An award-winning playwright and performer brings a show inspired by her native country of Ghana to Lewiston next week with a performance and workshop at Lewis-Clark State College.
Nana Ama Oforiwaa Aduonum, professor of ethnomusicology at Illinois State University, will perform “Walking With My Ancestors: Cape Coast Castle” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1, in the Silverthorne Theatre, followed by an audience discussion. She will lead an African drumming and dance workshop at 4 p.m. next Thursday, Feb. 2, also in the Silverthorne.
Aduonum, who earned master's and doctorate degrees in ethnomusicology from Florida State University, was born in Ghana, West Africa, where her parents taught her and her sisters drumming, despite resistance from some people to including women in the practice, according to an LCSC news release.
Her works combine drumming, original poetry, singing and acting “to offer fresh perspectives about the human experience, illustrating our global connections and providing platforms for deepened conversations about identities, immigration, border crossings and citizenship.”
Aduonum also will meet with students from 10:30-11:45 a.m. next Thursday, Feb. 2, in the Silverthorne to discuss her book “Walking With Asafo in Ghana: An Ethnographic Account of Kormantse Bentsir Warrior Music.”
